Heroes

Throughout history there are heroes.   They are usually considered men or women of great acclaim – people who have changed history or have gained a spot in the record of life because of something they stood for or something they accomplished.  In most cases, their life actions proved to demonstrate their core belief system.  Over time, the attributes that qualify them as heroes are found more in their beliefs than their actions.

Not every hero is famous. Some are infamous.  Others may even be notorious.  Most are unsung, every day people, who have chosen to pay the price to live as they believe.  What makes a person a hero is in what he chooses to mean for others – even if they will never see it.  He is not motivated by personal glory, but by a sense of doing what is right – a sense of purpose fulfilled in that there is something that needs to be fulfilled in the world and they are the ones in the right time, the right place and the right season to bring it about.  They are human and real, and like the rest of the world, have their faults and weaknesses.  Yet, they are not defined by those weaknesses but by their strengths.  

Most never recognize their value as a hero.  They do not see their strength and are often even lost to define their purpose because they did not “locate it” in the sense that we are taught to do. They simply walked into their purpose and embraced it as it unfolded.  Ironically, they are the ones who usually look at the fabric of their lives, wondering if they will ever accomplish – ever have value.  They never recognize that the value they offered is found in the significant life change they bring to those they touch.

God placed such a hero in my life.  I will even identify him by name because I believe that when someone is a hero, he deserves the respect of recognition.  God blessed our family and our ministry nearly fourteen years ago by bringing David Gardner into our lives.  He embraced us, and in so doing, he chose to recognize and embrace the call of God on our lives.   We were still early in our ministry.  In many ways, our ministry and even our lives were being defined.  David risked his future and took the plunge to become part of the fabric of our lives.  He embedded himself into the work for whatever was needed to make for our success, both as ministers and as family.

David embraced the understanding that the Apostle Paul identified to the church at Ephesus,

  “What you make happen for others, God makes happen for you.”

Young men are philosophers and identify with such sayings in a particular way.  David embraced our ministry, our lives, and our faults when both of us were young enough to 

“have all of the answers.”  We were 

“God’s ministers of faith and power”

and knew how to rightly divide the principles of God(mild sarcasm implied). Age offer a clearer picture of life, and we matured, and grew.  In so doing, as we did for others, we developed a clear understanding of what would unfold for us – both individually and together.  Like so many others, we looked at the Elijah/Elisha model and followed the teaching of many of the voices of the day.  In that era, the understanding of the reward of an armor-bearer in ministry is that such a role was a necessary stepping-stone to having your own ministry.  You serve a man in ministry and God will elevate you to your own ministry.  A lot of “armor-bearers" embraced the task with exactly that in mind.  

And, a lot quit on God when they realized disappointment when their “ministry” never materialized.

I can honestly say that the price of launching successfully into your own ministry is that you will have to serve another’s.  It is part of the training ground and part of the price – a combination of “God’s School of Hard Knocks” and the seed sown into a successful future.  But through years of watching people “try and fail” in pursuing this path to produce ministry, I have come to understand something.  

There are those who have a season of serving another as they reach toward their destiny, and there are those who God uniquely ordains and commissions to serve the destiny of another.  

They are the Samwise Gamgee to Tolkien’s Bilbo Baggins in “The Lord of the Rings.”  The destiny of the one they serve becomes their destiny.  The notion that what you make happen for others, God makes happen for you takes on a different meaning. What happens in the life of the one you serve is a part of you.  The destiny you help fulfill n their life becomes your destiny as well. 

The world creates famous heroes.  They are identified throughout history, beginning with the heroes of the faith.  Yet, for all of the accomplishment of the famous heroes, nearly all of them would have been lost to success without those who were close behind them offering support and making things happen.  

The Apostle Paul is a great hero of the faith.  He even acknowledges some who stood with him and co-labored with him.  He gets the accolade because he authored the letters that became the foundation for the modern church.  But, what of those who dedicated their life to making certain that the churches throughout Asia received those letters?  It took great faith and great courage to write those words of inspiration form prison, but what of the person who risked his life to make certain those letters were read?  Without them, Paul’s writings, regardless of how profound, would have meant nothing in the course of history. 

In modern times we look at great ministers of the faith.  We see the Joyce Meyers, the Jentzen Franklins, the Andy Stanleys, the Creflo Dollars, and the T. D. Jakes of the world.  We hear their messages of hope and challenge.  We identify their testimonies and their crises of faith and we identify how they overcame and found their destiny.  We see their destiny unfold as they communicate with millions of people, both in huge live events and via television and books. Yet, we never realize that the destiny of those people was only brought into fruition by those who made certain that the cameras were pointed in the right direction, the editing was done with excellence, so that that individual could be cast in their best light.  More importantly, those individuals had to look past the human frailty of the leader they serve.  They have to wade past the “human condition” to recognize the greater purpose in that individual, and that without them you would never know who these individuals are.

There are people who have worked with Billy Graham for perhaps half a century.  Their call was his call.  Their destiny was fulfilled in his.  The destiny of Joyce Meyers is also the destiny of those who have co-labored with her behind the scenes.  Their destiny is not to “fulfill her destiny.”  Her destiny is  their destiny.  What God unfolds for her, He also unfolds for those who serve her purpose.  They share like purpose.

David asked the question many times: “What is my purpose?”  Or, 

“When will I discover my purpose?” 

He also has answered it many times, perhaps without realizing it, because his answer was cloaked in the mission of the day.  

“My mission is to see that the ministry that I serve reaches and brings change to others – that the minister God has called me to serve is able to effectively do what God has called him to do.  Whatever I need to do to help him accomplish his mission

becomes my task.”  

David started the process by serving the destiny in our lives.  He expected that God would allow him to fulfill the destiny in his life.  Fourteen years later, some would argue, he hasn’t found his destiny.  I say our destiny is intertwined.  My destiny is his destiny.  The success I enjoy is also his success.  That which happens for me also happens for him.

Paul defined this in Ephesians when describing the gifts God gives to all men, that we function together utilizing our specific abilities until all come into the unity of the faith.  Would I have a ministry without David?  Probably.  But it would not look anything like it does now.  Would it touch the same people? Perhaps not.  It may have touched other people in a different capacity.  Would it be what it is today? No.  

The sum of the parts is greater than the parts themselves.

When David embraced our lives, he did so as a ministry.  To embrace our ministry meant that he embraced our family.  He helped us raise our children form the time they were in diapers.  (Yes, he even did those.)  He has lived as their Uncle David and has played a pivotal role in their personal growth and success.  He has responded to every request I have ever asked of him, for the purpose of making certain that when the time came, that which was necessary for ministry to go forth would be in place, ready to function.   He saw us lay our life and our future on the line to see accomplished the task God placed in our hands.  He laid his life on the line to make certain that we could truly accomplish that task.  As a result any success we have in our church, in our ministry and even in our family is a success in which he shares.  He did not need to look for a purpose.  He simply embraced purpose.  If he hadn’t, I do not know where I would be today. That makes him a hero – just as certain as if he had jumped into a burning building to rescue me.  Anyone who lays his life on the line for the life of another is a hero – and deserves a hero’s reward.  I cannot think of our life without David's existence.  Nor would I want to... we are more complete because of his role in our lives.

As you read this, you may be one who is trying to find your destiny.  You may be questioning your value or your purpose in life.  Consider whose life you touch right now.  Consider how their life would be different without you.  Consider further the gift they are to others.  Would they be the same gift without your input into their life?  You may be fulfilling destiny and not even knowing it.

What Kind of Leader Are You?

I love the way the Apostle Paul articulates.  If you read through his writings, it is helpful to remember that the translation into the English language (and particularly the Old English Language) can at times seem like a woven labyrinth of literary mystery.  When that happens, it sometimes clouds the simple eloquence of what is communicated.

Paul addresses the church at Corinth and speaks to the divisions which are occurring among the people based on whose teaching they chose to follow.  He made a point of communicating the fact that the leaders of the church were people who were gifted and anointed of God to carry forward the message of the Gospel. They were also, simply stated, people.  He further identified that there was danger in failing to recognize the common goal of the leaders because in doing so, one can easily divide Christ and his purpose in their life.  Such action creates for men to seemingly identify the Gospel based on how it fits their desire.  It “makes wise” one who begins to believe he knows more than what he really does, and in so doing, creates a distortion of the Gospel in both their thinking and in the thoughts of others.

In the third chapter, Paul stated that he could not speak to the church members of Corinth as “spiritual people” but as “carnal people” – a distinction he identified in several places within his writings.  He constantly focused on man’s ability to discover and discern the “mystery of God” – to identify life on Kingdom terms.

I like how the Message communicates this thought.

1 Cor. 3:1-4 "But for right now friends, I am, completely frustrated with your dealings with each other and with God.  You are acting like infants in relation o Christ, capable of nothing more than nursing at the breast.  Well then, I’ll nurse you since you do not seem to be capable of doing anything more..  As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything is going your way?  When one of you says, “I am on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?"

There are two things I want to consider here.  One is that  

Believers often have a tendency to gravitate to a teaching or to a leader who leads in the direction they most want to go. 

They embrace the doctrine that suits them or is comfortable for them.  They resist anything taught that stands in opposition to aspects of their lifestyle they do not want to change.  Or, they religiously hold to what they have always heard, as Paul often communicated when speaking to people bound by both tradition and law.  People can vest themselves in problems on both sides of this fence.  They either become so “free of the law” that the law carries no value in their life, or they hold to the law with such tenacity that they miss the purpose of its fulfillment.  Worse, they are so blinded by what they hold to, that they miss the value of what God really wants to do in their lives.  Jesus came, not to bind us to the law, but to fulfill the law in us – that the lessons learned in keeping the law would reveal to us a much greater purpose – a more complete way.

The second issue is that

 

living through this dichotomy in a personal level tends to damage your ability to lead in the manner in which God called you.   

You can lead strongly in the areas that you are comfortable – even to the point that you can unwittingly lead people in a wrong direction because of how you embrace it.  Or, you take the lead in certain areas, but avoid leading in others because to touch those areas means that you have to deal with those same areas in your own life.  You become weak as true leaders in the kingdom because what invariably occurs through this process is a diatribe certain to overpower almost every voice of reason.

Paul identifies something else, which I believe speaks on several levels. He discusses what a leader really is and isn’t.  In doing so, he defines those you follow, but I believe also sets the stage for leaders to recognize who they are in their own estimation.

Look at 1 Cor. 4:1-5  (the Message)

“Don't imagine us leaders to be something we aren't. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God's most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don't even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I'm not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn't mean much. The Master makes that judgment.  So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When He comes, He will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God."

I find in most cases that how a leader responds to situations identifies a lot about his own heart. 

If a leader is a servant of Christ, he is a steward 

of the mysteries of God.  

In keeping with how Jesus taught, such a person will be far more interested in guiding (or leading) someone into the mysteries and workings of God, than he will be as an enforcer.  Earthly enforcers tend to enforce what matters to them.  This is true in every aspect of earthly life, from law enforcement to our judicial system.  Government and education are all guided by the law, but the law winds up being interpreted and enforced based on what matters to the enforcers.

It is because of this that people tend to gravitate to the leaders who “think in kind.”  Such division has polarized our nation.  I believe that it polarized the church beforehand.  If you look hard, you find that polarization in the family unit.  Look even harder, you find it in man.  James 1:8 identifies that a double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Paul reminds people to be careful of whom they follow.  He cautions them to be careful of how they view who they follow.  He reminds everyone, both the leader and the led, that God chooses the true qualification for leadership, not man.  He warns the church to avoid jumping to conclusions about what He does in people before the evidence is in.  

 Many relationships are destroyed because people speak against their perception of something without realizing what God is really doing that they cannot yet see.  

 In so doing, they will fail to see what God will do next because their eyes as well as their hearts toward that relationship will be blinded by their judgment.

Consider who you follow.  Consider who you lead.  Consider the “hows” and the “whys” of both.  Are you an encourager or a “scourger.”  Do you prove a point or make a plea?  Do you issue an edict or extend an invitation? All of these things speak to how you rightly divide the Gospel.  It will help you answer the question, 

“What Kind of Leader Are You?"

The Limitless Mind - Part 2

In the last blog I offered some insight into how to live with a limitless mind.  I was, of course referring to God’s mind vs. our mind.  I made the statement, 

“To live with a limitless mind, you have to recognize that your mind has limits, but God’s mind is limitless.”  

People are quick to acknowledge this.  They are less quick to consider how God chooses to acknowledge this.  The way man approach this is to say, “God’s ways are higher than mine.  There is no way for me to under stand what the future holds, therefore, I will just live my life and let Him unfold His desire for me.”  The truth is that God has a desired future for you, but His desire for your future is that you use the creative ability He has given you to birth a future and a destiny.  He does not simply carve it out for you so that you can live through it in a robotic fashion.  He created a habitat in which you dwell, parameters in which you live life, and then a mandate to have dominion in that life.  To rule in the parameters He has assigned to you.

I shared about how our own mindset can limit us.  But the other mindset enemy of our destiny is found in the mind of others.  Many a dream has been cancelled or outright killed by those who live us most.  If the limitations of your mind can stop you in your tracks, the limitations of the mind of others can do so with equal effectiveness.

How others limit us.

Paul offers an example of how the mentality of others can dissuade us in the pursuit of our cause.  Such mentality can be born of fear.  It can also be born of common sense.  In his case, he faced a dilemma because the man who voiced his opposition was a respected prophetic voice and likely an intercessor to Paul’s ministry.  Paul made an announcement that he was going to travel to Jerusalem.  Agabus, a prophet walked over to Paul, removed Paul’s belt, and with great demonstration, bound Paul’s hands with the belt.  He then prophesied “for the man who owns this belt, bondage awaits him if he travels to Jerusalem.”  His words apparently disturbed others on hearing because Paul’s response reached past the prophet to a group of people.  He basically said, “Why do you break my heart with your tears.  I am going to Jerusalem, regardless of what you believe or what God has told you.  I am aware of what God has told me to do and that is what I am determined to do, even if means my incarceration or death.”

It was not that these people had missed God.  It was that they did not comprehend Paul’s determination to fulfill the mission assigned to his heart by God.  Well-meaning people often do this.  They look at the limitations they see in you and try to “talk some sense into you.”  They remind you of your short-comings (real or perceived) and labor to convince you that you have missed God. 

Others can also limit you by trying to keep you tied to their dream.  

If the picture they have created includes you, and if God speaks to you to reach beyond what their dream holds, you can rest assured that a battle will ensue.  Your determination to stand not only presents a challenge with regard to your future, it now flies a flag in the face of theirs because if the direction to which God is leading you removes you from their scope, then one of you has missed God…

...or have you?

Paul and Barnabus suffered a break over the training of John Mark, yet at the end, there was obviously enough common purpose and communication that Paul sent for John Mark upon his own death.  There was obviously a change in the plan, but also, purpose was ultimately fulfilled and the relationship appeared to remain intact. 

I shared much of this, both to my local congregation and also to the churches in Mexico.  A couple of days ago, I was reminded of a message preached by a dear friend regarding the end of Moses’ life.  Moses was given a specific assignment to lead Israel out of Egypt and slavery and into the Promised Land.  They journeyed a short while, located the land, only to allow their mindset to steal them of their blessing.  Fear gripped them and “common sense” settled in.  For their consolation, they spent the next 40 years running in circles, wandering in a wilderness.  

Israel still experienced the blessing of God.  They still prospered.  They knew His presence – everything a good modern day believer strives for.  Yet, they were wandering in circles in the wilderness.

There were numerous times when Israel displeased God with their rebellion, but one in particular captured his attention.  They complained to Moses about being stuck where they were.  They demanded water.  God instructed Moses on how to produce the water they needed (yet another miracle) but as Israel continued to complain, Moses demanded, “Must I continue to do everything for you?” Instead of exalting the Name of the Lord and speaking to the rock as God had instructed, Moses announced he was going to fix the problem (again) and he struck the rock.  Water came forth.  God honored Moses efforts.  But, God told Moses that the plans had changed, neither he nor the rebellious generation of Israel was going to be allowed to participate in the completion of the promised.  That blessing would be shifted to the next generation.  Moses id not get to do all that he was destined to do because he allowed his frustration over the actions of others to dictate his actions.  Their failings became his failings and the promise offered would be passed on.

God is merciful.  He allowed Moses to realize that the work he had done would not be in vain.  At the end of his life, around 120 years, Moses was strong enough to climb Mt. Nebo, where God allowed him with his naked eye to see the width and breadth of the Promised Land.  Some would say that Moses did not finish well, yet as my friend demonstrated, Moses had the strength to view the promise as it would be fulfilled.  He was counted in the hall of faith.

Moses let the people of Israel know that he had allowed their mindset to affect his judgment and that the price for that was the dream changed…or rather, his portion of the dream changed.  It did not stop the plans and purpose of God.  Everything they worked for would still come into fruition, just in a different capacity, to a different generation.

The mindset or mentality of others can affect the outcome of your life.  In the same way, your mentality can affect the outcome of the lives of others.  To live beyond the limits is to live under the influence of a limitless God.  To do that, you have to be willing to break free of the shackles of the limited minds you encounter as well as the one owned by the person in your mirror.

A Limitless Mind - Part 1

Recently I have been reading a book about the power of the mind.  The writer expounded on the minds abilities for memory recall, strategy, and dreams.  It brought to consideration how in this age of technology, the way we use our mind has greatly limited us.  We rely on technology to do for us what God created us to do.  Consider how the great pyramids were constructed, or how a primitive Noah was able to construct a ship capable of handling cargo that outweighs what many vessels carry today.  The writer of the book also offered insight on how the mind tends to function in today’s society.   

The explosive growth in media has created a generation of people who concentrate on how they “feel” and how they "live", compared to what they observe through television and other media sources.  

We live in a world where we feed on reality shows rather than creating our own reality.  

 In so doing, we unwittingly incarcerate our minds and render them virtually powerless 

to function in the real world.

In my last blog, I write about vision – seeing your life in the whole as God sees it.  Vision takes into consideration your past and your present, so that you can utilize them to project into your desired future.  The problem us that to fully embrace your future, you must be able to correctly utilize the power of your mind.

In considering one’s future from a Christian perspective, many tend to think of that future as a destiny that God has planned.  It is our job to figure out what He wants, what He tells us to do and to do it.   We seldom consider that in the development of our future, 

God designed us to be the architect.  He created us with purpose, 

but we do not easily consider that his purpose takes into account the reality that He desires us to create our future. 

It would be a cruel God who would make us in His image, give us free will, creative ability 

as well as the ability to dream and desire, and then design a life that would never allow us to utilize those gifts to in the development of our future and destiny.  There is a consistency throughout scripture that demonstrates that God wanted man to use his gifts and abilities to advance His kingdom – 

that man was actually designed to walk in dominion 

in his earth and create his future.

The ability to do this is thwarted by several things.  One, it is easier to escape responsibility for what you live through when you can point to God and say, ”He did it.”  Two, from the beginning, the enemy has tried to convince man that we were not like God at all and had to do things to become like God.  His deception created a though t process that has been interpreted throughout the years that if you try to create your future, you ignore the plan of God, ergo, you are living like Eve and that what you create is carnal and in opposition to God.  This lie keeps many from ever fulfilling their purpose.

A major limiting factor is the mind.  How we think, and how others think can create the damage to our future.

The benefit of serving a limitless God is best realized when you let Him lead you beyond your dreams.

How we limit ourselves.

Sometimes we get such a specific picture of our desired future that we lose sight of what 

God is capable of doing.  I have seen people put “wish lists” into motion that are so specific

 that they miss what God may have for them if His provision doesn’t 

consider every detail of their desire.

Its like a woman who believes God to present her a husband who is 6 feet 4 inches, dark skinned, full head of hair, worth 10 million dollars, prays three times a day, rubs their feet every night and never disagrees with them.  Then they miss they guy who adores them from afar, never realizing that he will better fulfill every desire and purpose in her life.  People often create a “utopia” lifestyle in their mind which dictates persons, places, and times and in so doing they limit their ability to see the blessings in the places, dates, and times God places in their path.

Another way we limit ourselves is either by making too small a goal or too great a goal.  Either one can stop you in your tracks.  The former, although draped in the cloak of practicality, is really birthed from a perspective of fear.  Fear of failure, fear of people and just fear of the unknown has cancelled a lot of futures for a lot of people.  The latter, seemingly reaches new dimensions in visionary perspective, but is often driven by personal desire far more than kingdom purpose.  In either case, the end result is that each places certain limitations on one’s ability to respond to what God has in mind.  Each develops a picture in your mind as to what is supposed to happen in the future.  Because your creative processes are at work and because it is tied to your destiny, it is difficult to “let go” of the picture.  You wind up focusing on what you create in your mind rather than working in concert with God to create something far better.  As a result, you stop moving forward, your unrealized dream stagnates and your life begins to experience atrophy.

God wants you to be involved in the design of your future, but He also wants you to respond to His leaning.  Consider Joseph, in the Bible.  He had dreams about leadership.  He voiced those dreams to his family in a way that made it clear to them that he could see himself leading the heads of what would become the tribes of Israel.  Visionary? Yes.  But his timing and his communication were arrogant enough to offend his brothers and even cause his father to question him.  For his efforts, he was sold into slavery.

He could have let the picture in his mind limit him.  Instead, he continued to see the picture of leadership, even though the circumstances were drastically different and even working in apparent opposition to him.  He was now a slave, but became the leader of the slaves.

It went further when he found himself in trouble with the wife of Potiphar, the man who had purchased him.  He went from living as a slave to living as a prisoner.  He could have let his mind betray him.  He could have sat in the prison, mad at his brothers and bitter with God for his circumstances.  But again, he held firm to what God had shown him concerning himself.  He was destined to be a leader.  In due season, he was in charge of the other prisoners.  He was also bold enough to set the stage for audience with Pharaoh, by communicating with those he helped to remember him to their king.  Ultimately, God opened a door for Joseph to minister to Pharaoh, but that door was also pushed open by Joseph’s willingness to create opportunity.  After capitalizing on the opportunity to interpret the dream, Joseph demonstrated leadership finesse by offering instruction to Pharaoh on how to prepare for the upcoming famine.  For his efforts, he was made the most powerful man in Egypt under Pharaoh.

Ultimately, the dream given to him by God was fulfilled, but not in a way he or anyone else could have possibly imagined it.  There was no way for him to foresee that his leadership role would be fulfilled as a servant to Pharaoh and Egypt.  Had he held onto the dream as he first saw it, he would likely have pined away in a prison for all of his days, waiting for God to present the opportunity for him to fulfill his destiny with his family.

To live with a limitless mind, you have to understand that your mind has limits, but God’s mind is limitless.  

You have to be willing to allow God to press you beyond the limits of your mind.  His ways are higher than your ways.  His thoughts are higher than your thoughts.  You will encounter opposition that will seemingly stop you in your tracks.  However, if you allow God to work through that opposition, you may find that it is really strength training, and that all that you face will ultimately lead you to a better version of the picture you painted – your true purpose and destiny.

Vision

It has been a long time since I have taken the opportunity to blog.  I have been traveling a great deal, both in and outside of the United States.   Life is about priorities and in juggling all that has occurred in my world over the last couple of months, I have had opportunity to write.  I just have not had opportunity to edit or to post.  Here are some of the musings of the last month.  They are a reflection of what I have been teaching our congregation at Bethesda Church, and in my travels.

I have been teaching a lot about vision and purpose.  The common definition for vision within the framework of Christian teaching is that vision is a picture of your desired future.  But, vision has to encompass more than picture of your future.  One consideration of this is that the Bible teaches that “where the is no vision, or revelation, people perish – or a better interpretation is, ‘cast off restraint’.”

This is a clear lesson that simply stated teaches that if you do not have a clear picture of what you are to accomplish, you will not hold yourself to the proper boundaries that will effectively steer you toward your destination.  If this is true, then “vision” is more about “revelation” than just a goal to be accomplished.

A better definition of vision is that it is a picture of the whole of your life.  It is a revelation of the whole of who you are, as designed by God.  In short, 

vision is seeing yourself as God sees you.  

It takes into consideration your past, your present and your future.  Common faith teaching instructs us to put the past behind us – to put it “under our feet”.  For many believers this simply means to ignore the past and forget it because it has been forgiven and hence, it has been forgotten.  It is not a true picture of how God operates, nor how we should operate in the life He gave to us.  To put your past behind you does not necessarily mean to ignore it – for to ignore it you also have to ignore the lessons learned through your history.

Instead, it is better to conquer your past.  Learn the lessons it has offered while at the same time being more and more determined that you are better than your past.  To conquer your past means that you force it into subjection and make it work for you.  

The lessons learned become tools you use to fulfill

your future and your destiny.

When God created you, He knew who you were. Even before He formed you He understood your capacity and the destiny He had for you.  He also made you in His image, which means you by nature have creative ability.  I will share more on this in the next blog, but for now, simply consider that He knew what you would face in your past and in His grand design, He allowed that you could use the lessons of the past to prosper in your life.  ALL thing work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

When God sees you, He sees your “omega” from your “alpha” He sees your end before He sees your beginning.  He also gave you the ability to function in the same way.  As you consider what you want to fulfill in your life, or what you feel led to fulfill in your life, you can better see the end from the beginning.  You can see your past in different terms and find the true value in what you have lived.  You begin to develop vision.  It is a vital step in discovering and fulfilling your purpose.

In the next couple of blogs, I will continue this line of thought.  For now, consider the things in your past that seem to hold you back.  Consider the things you have tried to “bury” or run from.  Rather than running from them or ignoring them, make them work for you.  Your past is now YOUR servant.  It is under your feet. 

See your life as God sees it.  Find the value He finds in you.  When you do, you will be amazing at the revelation you find.  You will discover vision.

Measuring the Value of Your LIfe

How do you measure of your life?  There are seemingly countless opinions about how one can measure his existence.  There are even those who question if a man should.  I am a firm believer that a man should measure the value of his existence.  If he doesn’t, how can he truly know the value of his life on the earth?  How can he know that his life makes a difference?  More to the point, 

how can he know that his life has purpose?

The Bible teaches that man is known by his fruit, or by the product of his life.  

Some measure that by the physical accomplishment that they have had on the earth.  They consider what they have built, developed, or acquired.  Others tend to be more philosophical in their approach.  They measure their life based on the relationships they have developed, the internal emotional or spiritual growth they have experienced or the intellectual knowledge they have accumulated.

The reality is that none of theses alone are equal to the measure of a man.  

Each of these represent a portion of how one

should measure himself. 

I have seen great men of business fail in marriage after marriage.  In a recent book he published, Donald Trump devoted an entire chapter to pre-nuptial agreements.  His understanding is that if you enter a marriage and you succeed in business, you can pretty much expect that marriage to fail.  Therefore you should never enter a marriage without an agreement that will protect your value.  My question is, “What about the value of the relationship?"  Isn’t it possible that the relationship should merit more value that the earnings?  Perhaps a marriage simply IS a business arrangement, designed for companionship, comfort and convenience.   Frankly, that is the thing I look for when I adopt a dog.

I also consider great and powerful men – businessmen and even ministers who build huge empires.  I look at their families – their sons and daughters and I see great strain on the relationships because all of the value is placed on what they are accomplishing in front of others.  Very little value is placed on the development of their children.  

How do you measure your fruit without considering the fruit of the relationships you build in your own offspring?  

They are your legacy.

On the other end, I see people who seem to have great relationships with their family.  They are close to their spouse.  They have friendship and mentorship in their children.  Yet, when it comes to their ability or even desire to produce in the world, they are seriously lacking.  They say that they want the best for their children, but hardly produce enough to put fruit on the table.   Their measure of life is in the relationships with their family and friends but their frustration is that there is always a great struggle on their life.  And, that struggle always costs those to whom they are closest.

In the Bible, Paul talked about living all things in moderation.  He wasn’t simply referencing what to consider as being sin or not sin.  He was offering instruction on how to live life.  Each part of life is important and each part plays into the value of life.   Moderation in Paul’s terms speaks of balance in your life. 

This means to measure the fruit of your life, you must consider the fruit in every part of your life.  Your relationship with God, with your family, and with others can and should be measured.  The product of your life, how you provide for your family and your future, and how you equip yourself financially to be a blessing to others is measurable fruit.

God’s Word teaches that the fruit that we bear is the evidence of His life in us.  

What we produce in these areas of life become the proof that His life is in our life – that we are living for Him.

I encourage you to meditate on this.  Consider each are of your life and determine to measure the productivity if it.  Then, ask yourself if what is being produced is pleasing to God.  It is a good way to know that you are operating in His purpose.  It is how you can understand the value of the amazing life He gave to you.

Timothy 

Dominican Republic Trip - Last Day

Today is Wednesday.  The MISSION POSSIBLE team has finished their work and it is time to play a little.  Today, after taking a few moments to acquire a well-deserved rest, they will board the bus and head to the beach.

Yesterday, we traveled to another remote village.  It was probably the poorest area we have encountered.  We ministered to children at another school and also carried supplies to them.  Taking supplies to the last school proved to be a great blessing, so the team pooled their resources and made a purchase of supplies for this second school.  The trips to the school have proven to be a great experience.  The children and school leaders were able to feel the love of God and be encouraged.  The team was also able to feel God’s love and offer encouragement and hope to people who have little to nothing

Everyone has found the trip to be a learning experience.  Regardless of how prepared you think you are for a trip such as this, once you hit the field, you discover there is no way to truly prepare for it.  In any situation, you encounter the unexpected, but when you are in such a place, there is no way to consider what the unexpected will be.  There re just elements that one’s mind cannot fathom.  It has truly been a walk of faith.

We also went to a nursing home in a nearby city.  Again, with a team offering, we purchased diapers, toilet tissue, bleach, and food supplies for this home.  IT was a beautiful place and in some ways, nicer than the convalescent homes we have in the states.  A nun who is very dedicated and proficient administrated it.  We sang and danced with the residents.  We prayed with them and basically just loved on them for two hours.  One 86-year-old man who has been in a wheel chair for 76 years, challenged me to a wheelchair race.  He won both heats and was overjoyed that his record is untarnished.  There was another, who sang a beautiful song to honor our visit.

One of the residents was a bright-eyed, feisty woman of 111 years of age.  I thought that was amazing.  Then I met Juan.  He did not want to open his eyes because he was starting his siesta but he spoke with me and prayed with me.  His mind was very sharp.  He is 120 years old.

Finally, we ministered again at Templo de Spiritu Sanctu in San Pedro…this, after ministering to the local pastors yesterday.  The message we bring is very new to them and they are looking for change. AS a result, they have opened their doors to us.  I have ministered on television in two cities and leave this morning to minster on an international broadcast.  Last night, as I ministered to the adult congregation, Anton Green took the youth into another area and ministered to them on creativity in worship.  His impact was very strong.  

There is so much to tell and so little time for you to read…suffice to say this has been an awesome experience and one the team hopes to repeat.  Pray for us as we travel home.  We will see you soon.

Blessings.

T